Jack Kerouac was an American novelist and poet, a pioneer of the Beat Generation whose writings paved the way for a cultural revolution. His On the Road (1957) has been translated into 32 languages and has sold over four million copies.
Jack Kerouac was born in Lowell, Massachusetts. Raised in a French-Canadian family, he was fluent in French before mastering English, which later enriched his narrative style.
After high school, Kerouac earned a football scholarship to Columbia University, but a leg injury halted his athletic prospects. This twist of fate kept him in New York City, where he fully embraced its rich cultural and artistic tapestry.
During the 1940s, Kerouac began mingling with figures who would become icons of the Beat Generation, including Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs.
His early literary efforts culminated in his first novel, The Town and the City (1950), but On the Road (1957) made him an American literary icon. The book tells the story of Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty's cross-country adventures. Based on Kerouac's experiences with Neal Cassady, it is mostly autobiographical. The story captured the spirit of his generation and continues to influence writers and artists today.
The success opened the door to other significant works, including The Dharma Bums (1958) and Big Sur (1962), which extensively explored themes of existential search and personal revelation.
Kerouac was also known for his contributions to poetry and was integral in developing a new poetic rhythm that mirrored the improvisational nature of jazz, a strong influence on his writing. His approach to poetry, like his novels, emphasized spontaneity and the raw conveyance of emotion, which he described as a "blues" session in literary form.
Despite his success, Kerouac's later years were marked by a decline in his health, exacerbated by years of excessive drinking. He died of an abdominal hemorrhage on October 21, 1969.
